Free as a bird

Soren Manzel from Germany is taking a few months off and exploring Scotland by bike.

He arrived a few days ago in Newcastle and is travelling at his own pace along the west coast of Scotland, eventually reaching the Orkney Isles.

He was carrying quite a large amount of luggage for his journey including a tent.

After the Orkney Isles, Soren will cycle back down the East Coast.

Soren really enjoyed his vegan breakfast.

Ironman

John Farrington was one of a group from a Merseyside cycling club that were staying in the area. On sunday they were cycling from Gretna Green to North Wales (A distance of approx 180 miles). This endurance feat would take around 12 hours to achieve and so they were setting off at 7.30 in the morning.

John enjoys endurance events and has taken part in several "Ironman" triathlete events.

I heard later that the cyclists had reached their destination with very few problems.

Taking the low road

Alex and Wanda from Amsterdam are on a cycling holiday in the UK.

So far they have cycled across from Newcastle following Hadrians wall. They arrived very wet after a long shower of rain in the afternoon and so dressed in waterproofs for their journey today.

The couple are travelling on to Dumfries today and hope to travel to Glasgow, Arran and explore the west coast of Scotland.

Alex and Wanda hope to avoid mountains, and also avoid rain as they will be camping most of the time.

On a mission

Our latest guest was Ben from Colne in Lancashire.

Ben made it his years resolution to cycle from his home town to Scotland.

Ben is normally a keen runner but on this occasion he gave cycling a go.

He covered the 113 mile trip in one day, cycling through the Northern Yorkshire Dales in order to achieve his objective.

His favourite part of the trip was between Kirkby Stephen and Alston and he almost managed to avoid the rain (only getting caught out in the last 15 miles).

Lock and Quay

Jim and his brother-in-law Simon are cycling from Lands End to John-O-Groats raising money for Mcmillan Cancer Support . The journey will take 15 days in total.

Much of the journey so far has been along canal towpaths, which has had many advantages and disadvantages. The big advantage was a scenic trafic free route, but the disadvantage was a slow bumpy route.

The pair are very much enjoying their journey and have found some excellent cafes on the way. Jim and Simons charity page can be found here
and you can read about their adventures on their facebook page.

From the Land of the Midnight Sun to the Land of the Wind and Rain.

It has been several months since we have had any cyclists so last night we welcomed our first cyclists of 2017.

Arne Fagerlie and Rita Gundersen from Stovner in Norway travelled from Crawford in pouring wind and rain yesterday. They are cycling from John O Groats to Lands End.

The couples favourite part of the journey has been the stretch from Fort William to Oban. They are now hoping for better weather.

In a previous year Arne has travelled the length of Norway by foot.

Birthday Biker

Andrew Haines is cycling the whole of the coastal Britain. So far he has cycled approximately 3750 miles and is down to his final 300 miles, finishing in Liverpool in the next few days.

The journey was split into several stages so he would cycle for several days then take a few weeks off. The journey to date has taken around 59 cycling days.

His favourite area has been the south west of Scotland and has enjoyed meeting new people who took an interest in his cycling exploits.
Yesterday was also his birthday.

The Stig

Stijn De Kesel is on a cycling holiday of Northern England and Scotland. He started 14 days ago from his home in Bruges and so far has visited Newcastle, Berwick, Bamburgh, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Ayr, the Galloway Forest and Dumfries. His favourite place has been Edinburgh.

Today he leaves Scotland and heads towards the Lake District.

Stijn has mainly been staying in B&Bs, but also in youth hostels and a "bothie" (A basic accommodation found in remote mountainous regions provided free of charge).

Details of Stijn's journey can be found on his blog, which also includes a lot of photographs.

A week off

Michael Davies is cycling from Lands End to John O Groats in just 9 days. He could only manage to get a week off work so  he is having to travel over 100 miles every day.

Despite the hectic schedule he has still taken a few detours to take in the sights of Dartmoor, the Cotswolds and the Yorkshire Dales.

His friend Robert is travelling with him as support driver.

Michael hopes to finish his quest on Sunday, then it is back to work on Monday.

Happy returns.

Martin and Michael are cycling from Lands End to John O Groats. It is Martins second visit to our Guesthouse. Michael was a bit too shy for the photograph.

The highlight of the journey so far has been the 85 mile journey to Windermere the day before yesterday. The worst part of the journey has been getting lost near Warrington where they had to share the busy roads with  lots of HGVs.

The pair enjoyed an early breakfast before heading towards Annan where Martin will be meeting his daughter.

Gone Bananas

Aiden and Peter arrived a few days back but Ive only just got around to putting them on my blog.

They are cycling from John O Groats to Lands End in around 9 days cycling over 100 miles every day.

Their favourite part of the journey so far has been the highlands where they said the scenery was breathtaking.

From Gretna Green they were cycling to Darwen which is approximately 120 miles.

As with most of the cyclists we get staying they helped themselves to all our bananas for their journey.

Its a doddle

Six years ago Tom Yuska cycled 4,700 miles across America in 87 days. He did the whole trip unaccompanied. So the mere thousand miles from Lands End to John O Groats should seem a doddle. This time he is doing the journey with his daughter Ellen.
The highlights of the journey so far have been to view the panoramic landscapes of the Lake district from high viewpoints and then enjoy the ride downhill. The worst part of the journey has been Cornwall, where the ups and downs and winding roads was a gruelling task.

Pedal for Parkinsons

Russell and Hillary Harrison are cycling from John O Groats to Lands End, fundraising for Parkinsons Disease.

Their journey began 11 days ago and the couple have decided to take the journey in easy stages so they can enjoy the experience, although two days ago they cycled 66 miles.

Today they travel to Penrith before their gruelling climb over Shap.

Details of Russell and Hillarys adventure can be found on their facebook page.

Peaky Blinders

Our first John o Groats to Lands End travellers arrived last night.

Chris Cottam is walking from John O Groats to Lands End and also climbing the 3 peaks (Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon) with his wife Hazel as support driver.

Chris is raising money for 3 charities Breast Cancer UK,  Cure Leukaemia and Holt School Trust.

The walk began on April 15th and will end on June 15th. He is tackling each of the mountains on sundays so that anyone wishing to join him in the climb can turn up without having to take a day off work.

Details of Chris's journey can be found on his website.

Bike back home

It was John Vickers first trip to Scotland, so he decided to add to the experience by cycling back home to Southampton.

He began his journey a few days ago from Inverness. The weather has been wonderful so there have been no problems so far.

His favourite part of the journey so far has been the Caingorms. The mountains were hard work but very beautiful.

Bristol to Edinburgh

Peter is cycling from Bristol to Edinburgh to see his daughter, his arrival should coincide with his grandsons birthday.

He arrived yesterday with his wife, Linda, who has been travelling by car for the past few days.
The highlights of Peters journey has been  to meet with his wife on the third day, after travelling alone and sleeping in a tent for the first two days. He also enjoyed the downhill journey from the top of Shap.

Today the pair went their separate ways, Linda back to Bristol and Peter onward toward Edinburgh.

Howards Way

Howard and Tom are cycling from Lands End to John O Groats.

Howard, a keen runner, says his favourite part of the journey so far was having photos taken at Lands End on a misty day. Toms favourite part has been the Cheddar Gorge.

The worst parts of the journey have been - riding through Dartmoor in the pouring rain, and, a nine hour journey through the winding roads and steep hills of Cornwall, the 50 mile journey took them 9 hours to complete.

Andrew and Ben

Father and son team Andrew and Ben are cycling from John O Groats to Lands End hoping to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

The pair usually ride the London to Brighton night ride, but this year Andrew fancied a change and decided to achieve his ambition of cycling the country from end to end. He volunteered his son for the task also.

The pair will be taking the scenic route today through the Lake District.

Early One Morning

Brendan (on the left) is cycling today from Gretna Green to Hornsey in East Yorkshire, a distance of around 165 miles.

His father is tagging along as support driver.
Brendan was a bit too early for breakfast, as his journey began at 4.30 in the morning.

His father however had breakfast at 7.30 so he took Brendan a couple of bacon rolls.

Thumbs up for Clive.

Clive and Diane are holidaying in the Orkney Islands.

Diane is travelling by car and doing a bit of sightseeing on the way and Clive is cycling from their home in Shropshire.

Yesterdays journey took him from Kendal to Gretna Green in glorious sunshine.

If all goes to plan Clive and Diane will sail to the Orkneys on Saturday.

I think my thumb may have got in the way of the picture.